hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's friday december 7th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. japanese self-defense forces commanders have deployed personnel around southern islands. the defense minister has passed on the order to self-defense forces commanders. >> translator: we're preparing our defenses in accordance with that offer. >> north korean leaders plan to launch the rocket between december 10th through 22nd. the leaders of other countries say they are carrying out a test of a long range ballistic missile. the deployi ining surface to ai missiles throughout the region.

the prime minister held a meeting with his ministers. he approved the order to mobilize the missile defense systems and shoot down any debris. this will be the third such order issued by the government. the last time was in april when north korea launched another rocket. it blew up less than two minutes after lift off. u.s. officers are also on alert. >> those ships are capable of participates in defense. we will go forward with that as we did in the last time. >> he said officers will be able to track the missile's flight path. the north koreans have refined their technology so the probability of success has increased. the timing of the launch coincides with the presidential

election campaign in south ko a korea. >> translator: today marks a watershed in the presidential campaign. i will do everything i can for the south korean people. >> translator: i promise to achieve a change of government. i would also like to realize a new era in politics. >> ahn said he'll join moon's campaign tour. the two couldn't agree on which one of them should run against the ruling party. so ahn withdrew from the race two weeks ago. the latest opinion poll suggests pak leads moon by about five percentage points. political analysts say they expect ahn's support will help moon especially among young and

undecided voters. opponents of egyptian president mohamed morsi are calling for many protests following violent clashes in the capital cairo. morsi supporters and opponents clash near the presidential palace from wednesday through thursday forcing the military to intervene. the battles left six people dead and more than 700 injured. the violence erupted after morsi gave himself enhanced presidential powers. he also halted discussions on a new draft constitution drawing more public anger. the military temporarily cordoned off an area around the presidential palace deploying tanks and armored vehicles. the number of protesters continue to increase on thursday night. one protester said the latest clashes have led her to demand morsi's resignation instead of changes to the draft constitution. there are reports that the headquarters and offices of morsi's muslim brotherhood were set on fire. in a televised speech on thursday, president morsi said the referendum on a new

constitution will be held on december 15th as scheduled. he also called for a meeting with opposition leaders. we are joined by ai. >> the european central barnk hs decided it will not change its key interest rate. the board members decided on thursday to leave official borrowing costs at an all time low of 0.75%. that's for the fifth straight month. weak growth was predicted in the euro zone. >> economic weakness is expected to extend into next year.

in particular, necessary balance sheet adjustments in official and nonofficial sectors and persistent uncertainty will continue to weigh. >> the bank has cut its growth for next year. he forecast the range for plus 0.3% the the monetary market has been calm after the ecb annou e announced a program to buy bonds. the promise of another bail out funding for greece is keeping the market stable. let's get a check on tokyo markets. on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is trading in a narrow bend. that's 82.53 to 55.

traders would like to confirm how the u.s. is performing. it's now back above the 107 levels. 107.05 to 10. let's take a look at stocks. japanese share prices are a little change. the nikkei trading above the 9,000 mark. 9,558 so far this morning. looks like everyone is waiting for the u.s. jobs data. let's take a look at the jobs market in the asia pacific. kospi is trading at the central bank's role has become a key focus in japan's general election. the leaders of the ruling party have expressed contrasting views

on what the bank of japan can and should do. our business reporter spoke with two economists for their take on the issue. >> translator: debate had heated up ever since banks were urged to take strong action. >> translator: we will boost public spending. that's going to force new money into the market. this will have a positive effect on the economy. >> reporter: the comments had an impact on tokyo markets in mid-november. the yen weakened and stocks shot up. some analysts called it the abi rally. others are cautious about aggressive boj easing include prime minister noda.

>> translator: construction bonds and deficit covering bonds are both debts. it could but the wrong economic policy to depends on the bonds and make the boj buy them. >> reporter: economists are also split on the issues. there's a lot the bank of japan can do. >> reporter: the boj can take a number of measures. one is to expand the balance sheet. the bank can buy more government bonds and even foreign bonds. another important step is for the boj to have a clear target for price increases. >> reporter: monetary easing alone cannot overcome deflation. >> defeating deflation is

possible, unrealistic and not feasible and also destable ieid. >> what's needed to end japan's deflation and rescue japan out of its slump. >> deregulating medical industry, agriculture and maybe try to increase a number of immigrants. that'd be very important. collapse of the japanese markets that probably lead to a significant deposits. when it starts to fall out and banks cannot bjb's, interest

will go up. that's how effects are huge. financial system may become really unstable. >> reporter: there's also different views. >> translator: if the boj buys all the bonds issued that's going to raise the problem of fiscal discipline. money is abundant in japan. that's why confidence is not going to disappear. >> reporter: economic policy is high up. the future of japan's monetary policy is in the hands of voters. >> besides the democratic party and the liberal democratic party

candidates from the following parties are also running in the general election. that does wrap it up in business for this hour. we are seeing the nikkei trading positively. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

most spoken ahead of the award ceremony. he referred to the control of the publications by chinese authorities. he says he does not support sensorship but says it exists in every country and is sometimes necessary to stop rumors and defamation. reporters asked whether he intends to call on the chinese government to release the writer who remains in prison. he said he hope lu would be freed as soon as possible.

as the governments of japan and china over the islands, some japanese were caught in the middle. we have one man's story. >> reporter: people in the city mark the 40th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic ties between japan and china. he remained in the city where he lived for 50 years. a china couple adopted and raised the japanese youngster.

as an adult he worked for a railway company and eventually he became station master. >> translator: i couldn't have survived after the war if my foster parents hadn't taken me in and given me such good care. they were so kind. >> reporter: but watanabe never forgot japan. looking at the picture of mount fuji always pulled at his heart strings. before he moved to china he could see it from his house. so pictures of mountains also surge memories of home. finally, he was able to set foot on the land of his birth in 1988, watanabe visited japan with others displaced by the war. he hoped to reunite with his family. but with so little information

about his parents, watanabe couldn't find them. even so he chose to return to japan for good. he and his chinese wife decided to live where his guarantor lived. watanabe was 53 at the time. but settling into japan was not easy. watanabe couldn't get a job. employers found him too old. so he and his wife live frugally on welfare. learning japanese has been another struggle. even today he has trouble retaining the language. >> translator: i find it difficult to remember what i've learned.

there are still so many words that i still have a hard time understanding. >> reporter: but if life gets him down, he can turn to someone for help. he makes it his job to help orphans displaced by the war. 24 years ago he became watanabe's guarantor. and to this very day he's still there for watanabe. >> translator: i call him father. >> translator: i want to help him. he's like a son to me. >> reporter: inoue drops in on the watanabe. >> translator: he always stood by us. and he never stopped supporting us. i feel so grateful to him.

>> reporter: throughout watanabe's life, caring people have watched out for him in both china and japan. >> translator: i am a victim of war. i became an orphan in china because of it. so i despise wars. nothing is more important than maintaining peace. >> reporter: watanabe has two homelands, japan and china. so desperately he hopes no blood will be spilled between the two peoples. nhk world.

many people in advanced economy feel a sense of responsibility to help those in developing nations but the contributions sometimes miss the mark. they can spend a lot of money and still fail to meet local needs. a japanese group is taking a different approach with simple, affordable solutions. >> reporter: many people survive on less than a dollar a day. in this village people life stands for the better a few months ago when they received their basic construction. it's a water purifiepurifier. it makes ground water drinkable. another simple solution is a portable light charged by sun.

he has a nonprofit organization from japan. in some places he walked alongside staff from the united nations. he has seen first hand that many people need assistance. >> translator: programs to assist people in developing countries seem to be too complicated these days. i felt we should return to basics. we should see how people in poverty live their lives. and think about what they struggle with.

that's what led me to simple technology. >> reporter: he runs to find affordable solutions. he introduces the winners. the inventer of this kit for making wine from coconuts was the first winner. this year they have students to researchers who entered. they are getting ready for the main event. he has one condition. each contestant must do five days of field work in the developing country to witness people for themselves. being out in the field is a chance for the contestant to put their inventions to the test.

this bag for carrying water is a big help for local women. >> translator: i want this because it's not heavy. i think i might be able to pay $3. >> reporter: another brought a light that can be wrapped around parts of the body. in the village it's no street lavrps. it peoples hands. they have improved their inventions. >> translator: it was too bright. i think we can make it a bit darker. >> translator: one hand is needed to carry a charger. it will be difficult to commercialize it would making it built in. >> reporter: it's a simple formula. see programs first hand and then solutions people can afford. this project shows how thinking

can create big benefits. people in northern japan are getting heavy snow due to a winter storm. >> winter storm has been battering northern japan with heavy snow and this is what people are dealing with. lots of heavy snow about 30 centimeters of snow have climbed up. gusts exceeded 130 kilometers. stormy conditions will continue throughout the day and additional 40 to 50 centimeters of snow. stormy conditions will continue into the weekend. out toward the west we have another low pressure system forming over the yellow sea.

that's going to intensify with a mixture of rain and snow today. the system will spread into western japan producing thunderstorm and hail. also rain may change over to snow as freezing air comes in from the north. down towards the tropics we can see swirling clouds over here. this is severe tropical storm bopha. it's going to stay over the area. that means conditions will prolong across the areas of the philippines. there's a possibility of it moving through next week. thunderstorms and also the flooding land slides are going to be a big concern here. your temperatures then freezing air. 25 degrees expected on friday. minus one in beijing. zero in seoul.

moving into the americas then. you had relatively calm day in the northwest but windy conditions will return to the west as the new system comes in from the pacific. intensifying showers with the coastal areas. increasing sea for the northern rock kips. 90 centimeters in. we have blizzard warnings. moderate snowfall for ontario as well as quebec. rain showers intensifying over the ohio and tennessee valley. rain also spreading into toronto as well as new york city within the next 24 hours. relatively warm down towards the south. very chilly in winnipeg. minus 15 degrees on your friday. finally let's go over to europe. severe weather continues in the eastern half of the mediterranean countries. turkey will see the heaviest

rain today. wet and windy conditions for the british isle. watch out for icy conditions. rain will spread into italy into tomorrow. lots of blue and white indicating near sub zero temperatures. here is the exthe eended foreca.

>> thanks for joining us. to wrap up this edition of "newsline" we go where an annual event is underway to commemorate a tragic earthquake that occurred there. this 270-meter illuminated archway is made of 200,000 lightbulbs. it started in 1995 to mourn the victims of the great earthquake of the same year and to pray for

the rebuilding of the city. the theme of the 18th event is the bond of lights. paintings by children in kobe in northeastern areas of japan struck by last year's earthquake and tsunami are on display. >> translator: this gives me a dream for the future. >> the festival runs through december 17th.

maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with